


Dance To Remember

by Huntress79



Category: Agent Carter (TV), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bucky Barnes & Peggy Carter Friendship, Bucky Barnes Remembers, Dancing, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Peggy Carter Remembers, Post-Captain America: The First Avenger
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:28:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24603151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Huntress79/pseuds/Huntress79
Summary: She lost her love, he lost his best friend. But together, they find a way to both get through the grief and hold up the legacy.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Peggy Carter
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9
Collections: SSR Confidential 2020





	Dance To Remember

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ultra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ultra/gifts).



> written for SSR Confidental 2020 and Ultra. Set after the war (and after the events of “Agent Carter”), with Peggy freshly established as director of the SSR and Bucky around. Enjoy!

*********************

Losing Steve was… like losing a limb without any narcotics.

Like Michael all over again.

Sitting there, in the cold large command center of Schmidt’s lair, so many miles away from Steve, didn’t help at all, and neither did Bucky’s hand on her shoulder.

Now, in the relative safety of her new office, Peggy couldn’t help but feel the tremors running through her body, just remembering that fateful day. Why did losing people just hurt so much?

A knock on the doorframe brought her out of her reverie. Looking up, she was met with the worried gaze of one Bucky Barnes.

“What are you still doing here, Pegs?” he inquired, slowly making his way into the office. “Everyone else is already home.”

“You know, Barnes, I could ask you just the same,” Peggy quipped, actively avoiding to let him look into her eyes.

“Me? I finally finished the report on my last mission,” Bucky replied, sitting down in the chair opposite Peggy with a slight groan before leaning forward on the table. “What’s up, Peggy? You know you can talk to me.”

“I… I know, James, it’s just…”

On their own volition, her eyes shifted to the desk calendar next to him.

“Oh,” was all Bucky got out when his brain finally connected the dots.

Cause today was the second anniversary of Steve’s death.

For some moments, silence reigned over the office, both occupants lost in their thoughts. Then, Bucky had to take some calming breaths before he spoke up again.

“Wanna get out of here?”

“And doing what? Losing ourselves in memories?” Peggy countered.

“Maybe,” Bucky relented, knowing that at some point during the time ahead, they might turn to some kind of alcohol. And while he didn’t know about Peggy, he knew that alcohol was a surefire way to loose his tongue. “But before we two gonna do that one thing you never got to do with Steve - we go dancing.”

“James…,” Peggy began, only to be stopped by Bucky holding up a hand.

“No protests, Pegs. We both need a distraction, even if it’s just for a couple of hours.” He reached across the desk and took one of her hands in his. “We even can pretend that you are teaching me to dance, if you want. God knows that I miss him every day, and I like to think that you’re not doing any better.”

“You might be right, James.”

*********************

To Peggy’s big surprise, Bucky didn’t take her to any of the fancy places in New York. No, he drove them over to his small apartment in Brooklyn instead.

Sure, Peggy knew of the place, but still, seeing it with her own eyes was different planet, so to speak.

“Want something to drink?” Bucky called out from the kitchen area.

“A glass of water, please,” Peggy replied, still rooted to the spot right at the front door. Something told her that this apartment had more history to it.

“Here you go, Pegs,” Bucky said while handing her a glass. “Let’s head over to the living room. And sorry for it not being…”

“Stop, James, I don’t mind the state of it. With you being one of my busiest agents to date, you probably don’t get to do a lot around here at all.”

“Yeah, but there’s more to it, Pegs…” He trailed off, looking out of the window over her shoulder before continuing. “This apartment here… Stevie and I used to live here… and there’s still…”

At that, his voice broke, the emotions too much to handle, and Peggy didn’t need to look at his face to know that there were tears welling up in his eyes. She herself was close to them, now that she had more information about their current location.

Placing the glass on the small table in front of the couch, Peggy put an arm around Bucky’s shoulder, drawing him into an one-armed embrace - which he gladly accepted and finally broke down in her arms.

For some minutes, they just sat there, both mourning (once again) the loss of Steve in their own way. Then Bucky straightened up again, trying (and failing) to wipe the remaining tears from his face.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t…”

“James,” Peggy began, taking his face in both her hands, locking her gaze with him. “You are also allowed to grief him, in every way you want. After all, you and Steve were best friends long before I came along, right?”

“Right,” Bucky replied with a sniff before getting to his feet. “I promised you some dancing, so let’s see if there’s something on the radio.” He went over to the small RCA receiver on the kitchen sideboard, and after some fiddling, he let out a whoop. Seconds later, the first strings of a Bing Crosby song filled the air.

“May I have this dance?” Bucky asked, his right hand held out in invitation.

And despite her earlier protests, Peggy found herself taking it, and pretty soon, they were swaying to the song.

True to his promise in her office, Bucky even let Peggy “correct” his style, and by the end of the third song, they were both wearing big smiles, mostly because Bucky could be mischievous if he wanted, and he playfully did some of Peggy’s corrections the other way around.

Sitting back down on the couch to catch their breaths, Peggy almost drank the whole glass of water in one go.

“Respect, Agent Barnes,” she said afterwards, “you definitely have some hidden talents.”

“Why thank you, Director Carter,” Bucky quipped back, his pale blue eyes sparkling with uninhibited joy. “You’re not so bad yourself, if I may add.”

“You may,” Peggy replied before turning sober. “Did you ever try to teach Steve to dance?”

“God, yes, right here,” Bucky began before letting his head fall on the backrest. “But as ambitious as he was to learn it, he also had two left feet. And after some time, and getting rejected by more than one girl while being out with me, he more or less gave up.” He put his hand over Peggy’s. “If Stevie was willing to learn it again, with you, you really must have meant a lot to him.”

“And yet, I wasn’t enough to stop him...,,” Peggy began, only to trail off when Bucky began to chuckle. “What’s so funny, Barnes?”

“Don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think any woman in the whole while world would have mastered that task.”

“Which task?”

“Getting Steve’s mind away from injustice. Or in that special case, a threat to mankind.” He let out a sigh. “That was so ingrained in Steve’s very being from early on that nothing could derail him once he had his mind set to it.”

“I know,” Peggy gave back, “I saw it after he got news of your capture.” Bucky locked gazes with her. “And I’d like to believe that if me and Howard wouldn’t have assisted him in getting to Austria, he might have marched all the way there, no matter how long it might have take him.”

*********************

The End

*********************


End file.
